Today is the day you get Battlefield 3! Why, you ask? Because today is the day you can pick it up at absolutely zero cost that is to say, free as the second game in Origin's "On the House" program.

Electronic Arts unveiled "On the House" in March with a Dead Space giveaway and implied that there might be an element of randomness to the thing, saying that OTH freebies "can appear and disappear at any time." Today's announcement of Battlefield 3 as the next OTH giveaway, on the other hand, suggests it something more regular, coming as it does almost exactly one month after Dead Space, but does it matter? I say, no. I say that free is free, and I'll take it wherever and whenever I can.

And no worries if you already have Battlefield 3, because there's a Plan B: Plants vs. Zombies, which has also been marked down to zero. That is perhaps somewhat less compelling as deals go since it's only five bucks at regular price and just about everyone on the planet already owns it anyway, but again, free is free and to be perfectly honest, if you haven't played either of them and for some odd reason can only get one, I'd actually recommend Plants vs. Zombies. It really is a brilliant game.

But the smart thing to do is to grab them both, which you may do here for BF3 and here for PvZ, until June 3. For all the details, point yourself at Origin.

Last month, EA gave away free copies of Battlefield 1942 on Origin. Today, they've made the original Plants vs Zombies free. Like before, there's no catch. Simply add the game to your cart and checkout, and it'll be added to your digital library forever.

The Plants vs Zombies merchandising train continues onward. After a failed attempt at making a board game, PopCap has done the next best thing: give the license to someone else to play with.
RISK: Plants vs Zombies is a "completely customized" take on the classic board game. Featuring a double-sided game board, the game features three ways to play: Tower Defense, Mission Objective, and Total Domination.

Plants vs Zombies 2 is not, as feared, a first-person shooter. But that doesn't mean the oft-rumored multiplayer take on PopCap's popular strategy game isn't real.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare can be seen plastered all over Los Angeles Convention Center's South Hall, where many of this year's E3 festivities will take place. This name, if you recall, was spotted long ago when EA registered domain names for it.

Rumblings of a PvZ multiplayer shooter were first heard when internet super sleuth Superannation discovered job listings from EA Canada looking for multiplayer designers with console experience. Undoubtedly, EA will officially announce the game at their press conference tomorrow.

Plants vs. Zombies is digging into the trenches with an explosive new action experience. Blast zombies, plants and new characters across a mine-blowing PvZ world. Take on Co-op and Multiplayer action with your friends and sow the seeds of victory!

Plants vs. Zombies 2 is coming to iOS on July 18, with Crazy Dave returning with a new mixture of plants and levels to keep the dreaded zombies at bay. Of course, this time, it appears that time travel may be involved.

"Itâs about time!" Allen Murray, senior producer for Plants vs. Zombies 2, said in a release. "We're confident that players will see the love and attention we've put into this game. We've created wild new ways to experience the plants and zombies you know and love as well as packing the game with tons of completely new content, and we're still hard at work coming up with even more cool stuff that will keep Plants vs. Zombies 2 fresh and evolving in the months and years following launch."

The release mentions past and future times with the new levels for the free-to-play "live service," and also reveals new power up that will "supercharge" plants. Check out the new trailer for a hint at things to come for the iPhone and iPad.

"Hell, it's about time," I imagine a spacesuited sunflower grunting, a cigar dangling between its happy-mouthed lips. Is that the image Plants vs Zombies 2 intended to invoke with its new tagline? Will zergling-zombies make a surprise appearance in the sequel? It's hard to say with this new teaser trailer, but if there's one thing it can teach us, it's that despite the far-ranging diversity of PvZ's audience, all of these hilarious stereotypes are united in their desire for more garden-themed tower defensing—and that they'll finally have a reason to stop complaining come July.

Social misfits with webcams, hipster dudes in a creative start-up, angry granddads, PC Gamer writers typing from their living room couch—oh yeah, everyone wants a piece of that pea-hurling action. This asparagus enthusiast is hoping that the "Aspearagus" makes it into PvZ2—what sort of veggies are you hoping to see?

Plants vs Zombies 2 now has a subtitle. Oh, and something resembling a release date. Plants vs Zombies 2: It's About Time is coming this July, PopCap Games announced on Facebook. It will be available this July.

We're assuming that the title serves a double purpose, going beyond just the frustrated demands of fans that have been expecting a sequel ever since the original game debuted in 2009. Time manipulation mechanics in a PvZ title would be cool--assuming it's not actually a first-person shooter, of course.

PopCap announced a few new Plants vs Zombies revelations today, including a release window for the full sequel and the closed beta launch of a Facebook version. Plants vs Zombies 2 will launch in early summer, according to the company. In the meantime, you could check out Plants vs Zombies Adventures, a new social PvZ game.

PvZ Adventures is only in closed beta for now, with plans to expand to more users this spring. It focuses on "road trips" as you travel the country to stop zombies in a variety of settings. You'll be able to send hordes to invade your friends, and the game will boast new zombie and plant types, new defense methods, and leaderboards. You can check out the Facebook page for a chance at getting into the beta, which for now is limited and region-based.

A look at Adventures from Indie Social Games seems to indicate it's a tower defense title, as zombies take a variety of paths to reach a motor home and you're given a limited number of plants to place at the start of each round. New plants include the melee-focused Beat and the Aspearagus, while new zombies include a barrel-wearing charger and an armored Mad Hatter.

"Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is a highly accessible, zombie-zapping adaptation of the original game designed specifically for Facebook," said PopCap San Francisco head Curt Bererton. "The game not only offers up exclusive new plants and zombies along with old favorites, it features all-new forms of zombie combat that will open PvZ to a whole new world. We like to think weâre creating a brand new twist on the classic Plants vs. Zombies that is the most social, shareable and expansive Plants vs. Zombies experience ever."

On the week of SimCity's ill-fated launch, during which a lot more people wanted to play SimCity than SimCity's servers could handle, Maxis SVP Lucy Bradshaw promised us each a free EA game for our troubles. Today, EA announced that SimCity sold over 1.1 million units in its first two weeks (well, there's your problem), and Maxis announced the list of apology games for SimCity owners to choose from:

The free game will be acquired through a "redemption portal" which will be rolled out in the Origin client later this week. To take part in the offer, you must register your copy of SimCity on Origin by March 25, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. PDT and redeem the free game by March 30, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. E-mails with instructions will start going out to owners today—I just received an update and on-message apology which opens:

"Our SimCity Mayors are incredibly important to the team at Maxis. We know we messed up and want to sincerely thank you for staying with us. The good news is we have solved most of the major issues and players are really enjoying the game. We're getting great feedback from our fans and know that many of you are having fun and are exploring this whole new expression of SimCity."

Despite the controversy surrounding and criticism of SimCity's always-online requirement, mixed messages about the decision, and much-discussed simulation flaws, EA says the 1.1 million unit figure makes SimCity the franchise's biggest launch of all time.